SEVERSON: Marvin Olasky was Governor Bush's advisor on the Teen Challenge matter.

MARVIN OLASKY: He knows that people can change because he changed himself in 1986, and so when there are people there who are alcoholics and they have changed their lives because of the religious faith developed in them, I think Governor Bush, now President Bush, can identify with that.

SEVERSON: With the governor's exemption, Teen Challenge and other faith based addiction programs are allowed to call themselves treatment facilities. That, even though the counselors don't have to get the 270 hours of clinical training and thousands of hours of supervision required of non faith based programs.

But there are critics, who argue that the drug counselors need this kind of professional training.

MR. WHITE: I think it would do potentially great injury to addicts and their families to suddenly have them in settings where there virtually are no professional standards of practice in which they are treated.

SEVERSON: Buck Griffith is a Church of Christ minister who runs "Christians Against Substance Abuse," a support group in Corpus Christi. Even though it is no longer required in Texas, he hires only trained, licensed counselors.

REVEREND BUCK GRIFFITH (Minister, Church of Christ): I think we've got to be very real and very honest with people that after their conversion -- it may be even before you go to sleep tonight, but certainly by the time you wake up in the morning -- you're going to want that same old feel-good substance that you always wanted before, and you're going to have to learn some skills to cope with that.

SEVERSON: Minister Griffith does not require that addicts attend church and insists that addiction is a disease, not a sin. And that recovery takes more than salvation.

(to Griffith): Even if it is an evangelical church that says if you accept Jesus Christ you are saved you can still be addicted?

REVEREND GRIFFITH: Yes. Absolutely.

MR. HEURICH: We believe that God made us and he can fix us. We bring 'em back to God. God fixes them and puts 'em back on track.

CALVIN (Teen Challenge participant): These people here, they teach us the word. They teach us to read the word of God and get into the word, and what that does is it changes the way we think. And changes our mind about things.

And it helps us to learn to overcome different situations and different temptations.

MR. HEURICH: So we would say "why do we need some training when what we've been trained?" ... [It] already works.

SEVERSON: While most secular programs report a much smaller rate, Teen Challenge claims a rate much higher -- almost 70 percent according to two studies. But that doesn't count the two out of three who never finish the program.

MR. WHITE: I think we need to be careful of any program -- religious or non religious -- that claims a 70 to 80 percent recovery rate. Any program that claims that today is doing so beyond the areas of any mainstream science.

SEVERSON: (to Teen Challenge participants): How many of you were in secular programs before?

(Kids raise hands.)

SEVERSON: And what do you think is the major difference between those programs and Teen Challenge?

Unidentified Kids: God. The Word. Jesus Christ.

SEVERSON: Teen Challenge is funded by private and corporate donations. Jim Heurich says the organization was "too Christian" to get federal funds under the 1996 Charitable Choice law.

But the program is clearly a favorite of President Bush, and might qualify for funding through the new White House office of faith based and community initiatives. But Heurich has reservations.

MR. HEURICH: Can we still operate the way we're operating? Are they going to interfere with our religious component and our classes? Are they going to dictate to us what training we're going to have to have? Then we're going to go back to interfering [with] what's worked for us for over 40 years.

LEONI: Whenever I feel tempted, whenever I feel that Satan's trying to get me, I just go out and I just spread the gospel to people. I just start talking about Christ. And that makes you stronger? [It] just makes me stronger, I mean there's no stopping me.

SEVERSON: Chris Leoni doesn't care where the funding comes from, as long as he can finish the program and get back home to preach the good word to his mom who is still hooked on heroin.

For RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY, I'm Lucky Severson in San Antonio.